Can you believe that we are back again with another amazing novel by Maria V. Snyder?! The first of the series left me breathless and craving for more action, magic, and, of course, KERRICK! Touch of Power (the first contest and info here) dove straight into the life of Avry, Healer and outlaw. We learned the history of the land, of Prince Tohon and his horrible plans to take over every Realm with the use of atrocious methods such as reanimating the dead. You cried for their losses, feared the worst, and fell in love as Avry did.

Now they are back with an even greater adventure that seemed to have started faster than any Snyder has written before. Here is the synopsis:

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible… again.

Are you already ordering the book? You should! Snyder does it again with her incredible talent at keeping pace, bringing a completely different world to life, and delivering characters that will stick with you well beyond finishing the book. You will have a difficult time putting this one down and, like me, will be begging for the next one.

The previous characters bleed into this second installment, bringing new friends and foes along with them. In ToM, you get to know Avry, Kerrick, the Monkeys, and Tohon. In SoM, Snyder pulls out the lives of the other royalty, Avry’s sister, and the military leaders she meets along the way while still diving deeper into our favorites.

This time around Avry and Kerrick have separated to help on opposite ends of their world. As per usual, the author has kept a quick pace, jumping between their individual, but connected, adventures. I love that about Snyder’s writing. Just as Avry is trying to save Prince Ryne from assassination, Kerrick is finding out his brother made a deal with Tohon to use their army! AH! The suspense and intrigue never end!

Any fan of Snyder’s work, fantasy, love in action, or reading, will coddle this book until it is finished. Maria V. Snyder has yet to disappoint.

If that isn’t enough to get you reading this series, maybe this will persuade you…

Oh yes, did I mention that there is a contest? Of course! Maria and her team at Harlequin are giving away one copy of Scent of Magic to one of my followers! Yahoo! The contest will run as long as the rest of this blog tour to give you all enough time to enter. That means you have until the 21st to enter. Here are the rules:

US/Canada Only

Up to 5 entries!

There is also a Harlequin TEEN Prize Pack!!! Click on the image and enter for a chance to win: